As February follows January and the sun sets in the west, readers of The Dallas Morning News could rely on that newspaper to endorse the Republican candidate for president. But not this time — not when the candidate is Donald Trump. The Morning News editorial pulled no punches from the get-go:

“What does it mean to be a Republican? “For generations, the answer had been clear: A belief in individual liberty. Free markets. Strong national defense. “But what does it mean to be a Republican today? With Donald Trump as the party’s new standard-bearer, it’s impossible to say.”

The editorial criticizes Trump for “an authoritarian streak that should horrify limited-government advocates” and “his open admiration of Vladimir Putin.” It calls Trump a hypocrite for investing in hotels abroad even as he criticizes car manufacturers who take factories overseas. As for national defense, the editorial calls Trump an isolationist who “put sound bites over sound policy.”